


Strange Meeting

by Marz_A



Series: Pro Patria Mori [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Suicide Squad (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Character of Color, Female Character of Color, Gen, POV Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-03-31 18:15:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3987934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marz_A/pseuds/Marz_A
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Batman does not approve of the Suicide Squad's latest recruit. Amanda Waller doesn't really care.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strange Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> This is the start of a series set in an ambiguous canon. Later installments may be rated Mature for violence. I'm taking elements and characterizations from both the comics and the cartoons to fit the story I'm telling. The title is a reference to the Wilfred Owen poem "Strange Meeting."
> 
> **Trigger Warning:** grief/loss particularly that of a child, referenced PTSD/mental illness
> 
> If you see a trigger I haven't listed, please comment or PM me and I'll add it.

The truth was Amanda Waller didn’t believe in redemption.

 

There was no undoing the past. You lived with it. Learned from it. And maybe, just maybe, if you were lucky, you could be forgiven for it. But what was done was done. All the good deeds, all the silent words said at just the right moment, all the small gestures and the grand; all the lives saved couldn’t change the past. Just because a sin was necessary, just because it was the lesser evil, didn't mean it wouldn't damn her to Hell all the same. There was no redemption. Not for her, nor any of the squad members she assured would find it when the mission was complete.

 

She prayed to God it was worth it.

 

She shook her head. She didn't have time to be this contemplative. There was work to be done. She could think about abstract ideas like worth and redemption when she was retired.

 

_He_ always brought out this side of her, the side that doubted. Amanda had a nagging suspicion he felt the same about her.

 

_Thump!_ The sound of boots knocking against wood appeared behind her.

 

“You’re late,” she said without turning around. “The tea’s gone cold.” She walked into the kitchen and placed a fresh pot of water on the stove. The pot was almost twenty years old, bottom charred black from the flame.

 

“Bank robbery.” A soft thwack indicated a heavy file tossed onto the table. Amanda turned to stare up at the looming figure. She didn’t have to look at the file. They both knew what was in it.

 

“ ** _No._** ” It was a command growled with all the force of a man for whom the brink of death was just an inconvenience. A god pronouncing his commandment, waiting for his lessers to bow before him.

 

She didn’t blink. “I sent that file to you as a courtesy. I’m not asking for permission.”

 

“He’s dangerous-”

 

“Good. If he wasn’t, I’d have no use for him.”

 

Batman looked as if he was about to snarl at her; a feral dog who’d found his prey. “ _You can’t control him._ He’ll never listen to you. The first chance he gets, he’ll slaughter your entire squad.”

 

The hot flame of the stove sparked blue. “He won’t listen to _me_ ,” she asked, “or he won’t listen to **_you_** _?_ ”

 

He blinked. Batman’s hands were shaking in rage. Rage at her, at the Red Hood, or at himself she did not know.

 

“You’re not here because a member of your Rogue’s Gallery is about to be set free,” she stated. _For a given definition of freedom anyway._ The kettle screamed as steam rushed to escape its confines.

 

“ ** _He’s my son._** ” As close to begging as The Dark Knight was ever going to get. No, this wasn't Batman she was speaking to anymore. Not the general who’d lost a good soldier, but Bruce, a father who’d lost his son. And she threatened to take him away a second time.

 

Amanda sighed as she poured the hot water into the China cups her mother gave her. “For what it’s worth, I was against the decision. I argued that he wasn't worth the fire that would rain down on us when you found out. _I was overruled._ ” She spat the last word, thinking of the director who flippantly dismissed her counsel. Not that he knew the exact nature of Red Hood’s relationship with Batman, but the obstinate jackass still should have trusted her judgement.

 

“Is that why you sent me the file? Revenge for not getting your way?” he accused, pushing aside the tea cup, careful not to break it.

 

“No, Bruce. For all we disagree, I respect you. Losing a child is the worst pain imaginable.” Her voice cracked ever so slightly at the memories. “I sent you that file because you were going to find out sooner or later. This way we can talk before you do anything rash.”

 

“ _Rash?_ **You want to put a bomb in my son!** ” Bruce looked about half a second away from throwing her across the room. Half a second was all she needed.

 

“His psychological profile is a perfect fit for the squad. And his skills are unmatched. **_You_** made sure of that.” It was a low blow, but she was right, and he knew it. He trained his sons to be soldiers, now he had to live with the consequences. “When it comes down to it, what you or I think is irrelevant. It’s Jason’s choice. He chose the squad.”

 

“ _Jason_ can’t be trusted to make good decisions! The Lazarus Pit messed with his mind! _He needs help!_ ”

 

“Which is clearly why you had him under the **_astounding_** medical care of _Arkham Fucking Asylum!_ ”

 

_Crack!_ Bruce slammed his fist against the table, leaving cracks in the fragile cups. "Those belonged to my mother." The shadows landed across his suit so that his face was shrouded in darkness.

 

"I'll get them fixed-"

 

"No need. I'll do it myself." She pushed the now cracked cup of tea across to him again. White cup, with a blue floral pattern. Her mother’s neighbor painted the set, she’d been told. “I take care of my squad, Bruce. Dr. La Grieve is the best psychiatrist on the East Coast who has experience dealing with masked criminals. Jason will get help. I will get my soldier. In five years, your son will be pardoned of all his crimes and can make a new life for himself.”

 

“ _If_ he survives that long.”

 

She had no counter to that. There was a reason they called it the Suicide Squad. Their work was dangerous and messy. Not everyone came home. “Yes. If he survives that long.”

 

Bruce glared at her. She could see him weighing his options more rationally than he had when he first arrived. Amanda still had all the evidence she needed and more to prove his identity. She’d release it in a heartbeat, and he knew it. If his identity got out, all of his children would be in danger, not just Jason. And Jason had made his choice.

 

Bruce took a sip of the tea. “Earl Grey. Alfred makes it better.”

 

“Well, far be it from me to go against a British man in a tea making competition.”

 

Bruce smirked before placing the cup down and walking into her personal space, staring down at her. He leaned in close, hot breath on her face as he growled, “ _ **Jason is not expendable.**_ If he dies, I don’t care what evidence you have on me. I’m coming after you and your bosses. I will tear down your life’s work brick by brick and I won’t stop until everything you have ever touched is burned to the ground.”

 

“ _Noted_.” Bruce backed away, clearly not happy with the situation’s resolution, but was resigned to the outcome with no better options available. “I’ll tell Jason you said ‘hello,’” she called as she turned to grab her own cup of tea, certain when she looked back he would be gone.

 

As expected, she was greeted to an empty room, and the cold night breeze from her window.

 

_Brrr, brrr,_ her cell rang. “Waller,” she answered.

 

“Red Hood is being prepped for surgery now,” Colonel Flag informed her.

 

“Let me know when it’s done.”

 

“Yessir.”

 

She sighed as she hung up the phone. _This is going to be interesting. The ancient Chinese curse kind of interesting._

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)
> 
> There is a sequel in the works. 
> 
> Comments are much appreciated! I love feedback.


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